Kinross Correctional Town Hall
On Tuesday, August 3, Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington, along with Human Resources Administrator Christine Hunnicutt and Deputy Directors Jeremy Bush, Lia Gulick and Russ Marlan, had the opportunity to speak with current staff from both Kinross Correctional Facility and the surrounding Parole and Probation offices. Staff who took part in the virtual meeting brought a lot of great questions to the table, and we hope they will help provide answers for MDOC employees across the state.
Q: What might be in the works for retaining corrections staff?
· Director Washington — We are constantly looking at options that will have a positive impact on hiring not only for Corrections Officers but also for healthcare and skilled trades people. We are continually having discussions on this with the Office of State Employer.
Q: Can you touch on some numbers in regard to our releases, recidivism, and prisoners entering the system since COVID has improved?
· Director Washington — During COVID there was a period where we were not accepting intakes and we had a court system that was not able to process cases as they did prior to COVID. The Parole Board continued to review cases, so we continued to have releases during COVID. 32,501 was the number of offenders incarcerated as of the end of July. If you look at our projections, we have been at a pretty steady decline over the years and are at the lowest number in decades. For the month of July, we were down 31 prisoners, making the year to date down 1,116. The departments recidivism rate is 26.6% which is the lowest recorded number for Michigan. The recidivism is the rate at which people return to prison within three years of release, it is a standard measurement used. Michigan is number 6 in the nation on the Virginia study of recidivism rates. We also track our employment rate, and it is important that we are helping people find employment that they can support themselves and their families on.
Q: What are your thoughts on the stresses and burnout mandates cause and how they impact retention?
· Director Washington — In the 24 years that I have been with this department, a lot has changed. There are a lot more tools available to people in the criminal justice world to help individuals and bring fewer people to prison. We are downsizing and have a large number of people leaving at the same time, while living in an economy where jobs are plentiful everywhere, increasing the challenges in hiring in this field. 20 years ago, there were benefits that were being offered that are not now. I have talked with a number of other states that are experiencing the same thing. Many staff have voiced their interest in 12 hour shifts and some have voiced their dislike of the idea of 12 hour shifts and we are looking at that. One thing that worked well during COVID in emergency situations, was having staff with previous custody experience assist and alleviate mandates. Some staff have asked if we could do that again and that is something that we are talking about internally. We have to follow P.A. 415 so we would need to work with our partners in legislature, the union, and the officer training council to make a change like this.
Q: Are there any bonuses in the future? And do we need to worry about facilities closing with the low number of inmates and staff?
· Director Washington — The bonuses that the nurses are getting are not COVID related. This is in response to the nursing shortage that we have been experiencing for many years. As far as COVID bonus, all staff that work inside Correctional Facilities did receive the COVID pay.
· Director Washington — During COVID we were fortunate to have the empty beds so we could utilize them for separating people. We now have the opportunity to close units and we have at multiple facilities. We are making the decision on where to close units after looking at Correction Officer vacancies and healthcare staff vacancies. Nobody should look at that and think that means the facility is closing. We are trying to manage the beds based on what is the most responsible for safety and security and spending the taxpayer’s money.
Q: Would it make more sense to allocate funds towards current staff versus spending a giant amount of money on recruiting, and training for new hires to just quit shortly anyway?
· Director Washington — We do not have the ability to allocate funds to staff in a form of a salary increase or in some form of a bonus. That is handled through the OSE bargaining process. We will always have the need to train and recruit Corrections Officers and other staff. We turn over 52 officers a month. That is due to terminations, promotions, retirements, etc.
· We recently developed a new exit interview process that is electronic. We receive exit interviews electronically and they go to the Director and Deputy Director’s. We read them and personally reach out to people when they have provided their contact information on an exit interview to find out why they left, good or bad, so we can look at the reasons for leaving.
Q: Is there any discussion on going back to 100% mandate list?
· Director Washington — Before COVID we were at the 50% mandate line. When people started going off sick and facilities were experiencing staff shortages, we had to move that. We have been looking at the opportunity to return to the 50% line if it operationally works.
